


Enchantments and Misfortune

by TheDyingStory



Series: Just a Little Magical [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Multi, Slow Burn, Witch AU, magick au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-09-29 20:25:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10143302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDyingStory/pseuds/TheDyingStory
Summary: Keith Kogane gets a familiar and meets some interesting people. Things get wild from there. Witch au.





	1. Something Familiar

“Come on!” Keith muttered as he focused on the small candle in front of him. It sat there almost mockingly, the wick still cold. He took a breath and shook out the tension in his back. He’d been sitting here for a couple of hours already, trying to get the candle to light. He turned his focus back on the wick and called to bring the fire from under his skin.

     …Nothing. Not even a spark.

He huffed and flicked the candle over on its side. The assignment was simple. All he had to do was connect to his soul aspect and bring it out without the use of a wand. Clearly, it was easier said than done. He knew wands and other things of the like were crucial when it came to many forms of magic, but he never anticipated it would be this difficult without one.

With drooping shoulders, he picked up the candle and set put it back in the wooden case to his right. He could attempt this later, after all, he had two weeks before school picked up again which meant two weeks to get it right.

He had managed to connect to his aspect before, without a wand too. But that was in class, and it was only a spark. Apparently, his instructors said that was enough for him to left on his own to figure it out. Everyone was given the same ‘assignment’, but it was mostly just about figuring out why they're connected to such aspects and how to bring it out. So everyone was expected to figure it out, or a least have an idea when they get back. If they didn’t figure it out, it wasn’t a deal so his teachers had said, but they had to figure it out of their own as it was better for their own ‘self-discovery’. It the whole part of understanding yourself or something. It just annoyed Keith if anything, but he could understand it.

He stretched himself out as he stood up, sparing a glance at the clock. It was about noon, might as well get some lunch. Maybe he could meet up with Shiro at that new café downtown. What was it called… Ballé Café? Yeah, that’s sounds like a good idea, assuming Shiro wasn’t busy.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Shiro’s number. After the first ring, he picked up.

“ _Hello_?” He sounded, exhausted like he just ran a marathon. Knowing Shiro, it is possible he had. Keith would often join him for the occasional morning jog.

“Hey, you okay? You sound a little choked there,” Keith replied, as he moved the case of candles back under his bed.

_“Huh? Oh, uh… yeah. Just working on the assignment Mr. Tes gave us.”_

“Oh, really?” He shouldn’t be surprised, but Shiro was the top student in his class, and he managed to perform magic without a wand well enough. He even seemed to have a strong connection to his aspect, so he probably didn’t even need to work this ‘assignment’. “What did you do exactly then?”

_“Oh, I just kinda winded myself a bit.”_

“You… winded yourself… a bit.”

_“Hey, air not as easy to control as you would think. I keep ending up extremely light headed. It’s not that big of a deal.”_

“Right,” Keith rolled his eyes. The instructors simply couldn’t stop talking about how Shiro excelled. So, there was no way Keith was going to believe he was having difficulties. “Just what exactly did you do?”

Shiro sighs on the other end, “ _Don’t laugh. I might have let lose a small tornado in my room.”_

“What?! Are you okay?”

_“I’m fine, I managed to calm it down. But my room is an absolute disaster now,”_ Keith hears Shiro groan on the other end, _“its gonna take a while to clean up. I don’t even want to attempt it.”_

“I can imagine. I can come over and help if you want?”

_“No, no. It’s fine, I’ll just…deal with it later. Anyway, what’s going on with you? Is there something you need?”_

 “I was just wondering if you wanted to get some lunch with me.”

_“Lunch? Wait, it is noon already?”_

Keith’s lips quirked up, “Yeah, time sure must fly by when you’re trying to control a tornado, huh?”

_“Yeah, yeah. I could get some lunch. Where were you thinking?”_

“I was thinking we check out that new café? Uh, Ballé Café?”

Shiro chuckled a bit, _“You mean, Balmera Café?”_

“Yeah, that one. Meet you there in twenty minutes?”

_“Sounds great. I’ll see you in a bit, Keith. Bye.”_

“Bye,” Keith pulled his phone away from his ear. “Ugh, seriously?” He frowned, just noticing the black smudges of charcoal on his hand, both of them actually. Which meant there was probably some on his face now. Tossing his phone on the bed, he made his way to the washroom. Might as well take a quick shower before heading out.

And by quick, it was less than 10 minutes -which was a new record in his books. He was dressed and out the door in just 3 minutes too. He was not one to waste time, and it wasn’t like he could afford to either. Hoping on his bike, not a motorized one, unfortunately, he rode down the driveway.

He lived in a small apartment, that was near Garrison- Academy of Sorcery. The Academy was pretty much the foundation of Altea too. The school was pretty much the reason for the city’s existence and why Altea was called the city of magic. But it was still smaller than most. It just so happens to be one of the few cities that have embraced magic and sorcery entirely. He could look to the side and see kids casting spells on one another for the hell of it, then he could turn and see shops selling the latest broomsticks and cauldrons. Looking up, he would see several people flying on those new broomsticks. He would pass groups of people with familiars on their shoulders or be trailing behind their heels.

Keith didn’t have a familiar or a broomstick. Not that it bothered him. He would be fine without a broomstick; he’s got a bike that works just fine. Heck, he could just have enchanted it and just like he’d be flying to his destinations, except that didn’t work the first time he tried it so why bother. Air, wind or anything with flying wasn’t exactly something he had in his strong suits. Besides that, a familiar wasn’t a requirement as a witch anyway, but sometimes he thought it would be nice to have one. Like a crow that could keep him company. Maybe an owl. But familiars aren’t something you can just pick out, they chose you.

Altea resided on an island, not too far from the mainland. The island itself wasn’t large either, so the city took up plenty of it. There are areas of the island that were left untouched and for good reason. No one wanted to completely destroy the vegetation and wildlife that lived here – wanted to keep a steady balance of nature and industrialization and what not. That and because of the Silent Forest which is believed to be cursed.

People used to take walks through the untouched land of the island, but that changed when weird things started happening. Some say it because the spirit of the forest didn’t want its treasured home being destroyed and damaged any more than it has been, other say it was cursed by some ‘hippie tree huggers’ (who even talks like that anymore?), but no one exactly knows. It’s just not a safe place to be in. It is also eerily quiet, they say that any sound made it automatically silenced by the forest, thus the name Silent Forest. It’s actually not much of a surprise how many times someone tried to commit murder in the forest for that reason, but it is not like they ever get away with it.

The forest was easy to see from where Keith lived, which wasn’t much since the forest resided on the more mountain-like side of the island. He also had a nice view of the shoreline, since he lived on such high ground. The Garrison had better views of the entire city, though, as it was located in the highest areas. Shiro lived in the dorms at the Garrison, much like other students did. Keith had his reasons for not wanting to live there, and besides he like where he lived now. The Garrison was fine with it too since his living arrangements weren’t far from the school.

Shiro was already at the Balmera Café when he arrived, sitting in one of the tables out front, next to a pot of pink flowers. Keith parked his bike and made his way to Shiro just as he looked up from his phone.

“Hey, sorry I’m a bit late,” Keith said. “Did you already order?”

“Not yet, I wasn’t going to until you got here.”

“Well, I’m here now, let's go order.”

Shiro nodded and stood up to follow Keith inside. The café was almost full, and there was a decent sized lineup. It must be pretty good place then. As they stood in line, Shiro spoke up, “so, have you been messing around with charcoal this morning?”

“What? No, but I was working on the assignment. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, it’s just that you’ve got something there,” Shiro gestured to the side of his face.

Keith frowned, “What?” He rubbed his cheek and looked at his hand. An all too familiar black was smudged on his hand. “Are. You. Kidding me?!”

Shiro laughed.

* * *

 

    The door chimed open as Keith entered the shop. After lunch with Shiro, and after Keith helped him clean up his room from the tornado (even though Shiro said it was fine, he didn’t want to trouble Keith), he decided he might as well get some supplies. He was running low on charcoal pencils, he could get some more candles too, and maybe even a few more books that could help him with connecting to his aspect.

    The shop was empty, minus the shopkeeper who sat at the till reading a magazine. They didn’t even glance up from their page as he entered, “Hey, Keith.”

    “Hey, Rolo,” He replied and made his way to the corner of the shop where the candles were kept. When it came to shopping supplies, he would always come here – unless what he needed was something he could only get at a specific store, but that rarely happened. It was small, not many people came here and it was also pretty close to the forest – nestled right between the where the beach turned into the woodland.

He grabbed some red, yellow, blue, green and purple candles. Some scents he got were pine, honeysuckle, carnations, strawberry and sandalwood. A snap decision led him to also grabbing some incense. He would be lying if he said that the scents he had chosen weren’t meant to help him out with connecting to his aspect. Somewhere about strength and success, and increasing connection to magic, which is just what he needed.

Once he got a box of charcoals, he made his way to the books. There wasn’t much, but he knew there was definitely a few that talk about his aspect in them. Sure enough, he found two of them, one that looked somewhat new, and another that looked almost like an antique complimented with a fire symbol on the front. They were right next to other books about different aspects. Earth, air, water, spirit. There were more aspects than that, but those just so happened to be the most common.

Keith made his way to the till, where Rolo still sat, reading a different magazine from when he first came in.

“So, I take you’re doing that whole ‘connecting to your aspect’ thing too, huh?” He said, finally tearing his eyes off the magazine to look at Keith.

“Yeah. What gave it away?”

“The books, and the fact that several Garrison kids came in here early today looking for books to help them out, too.”

“I’m not surprised. This assignment has everyone working on it.”

Rolo ran his stuff through the till. “It can’t be that hard, can it?”

“It is if you’ve got no idea how to do it.”

“No way,” Rolo smirked, “you’re having trouble with it? I’d thought you’d be the first to nail it.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “I’ll get it eventually.”

“I’m sure you will. You’re a hothead enough, it should be easy for you the let loose the fire,” Rolo replies. He puts Keith’s supplies into a bag, “That’ll be 56 Cols.”

Keith hands him his money, “yeah, yeah. Whatever. So, how’s Nyma doing?”

“She’s fine, definitely making better sales on the mainland, though. Less competition there, and even if there was, you know how she is.”

“How much longer is she going to be there?”

“Mm, she’s got to make a trip to Adritgrow in a week, I think. So, she probably won’t be back until the end f the month. Assuming things go well there. They say things are getting pretty tense with the sudden increase of the wicked. Which isn’t very good for business.”

“Right, I heard about that,” Keith mumbled. It was almost impossible not to hear about it. It was talked about all over Altea. “What do you think is causing it?”

“Hell if I know. But if I had to make a guess it would be cursed objects. It’s easy to curse objects, and its easy for them to go unnoticed if you do it right.”

Keith nods, “Well, hopefully, whatever’s going on calms down. The wicked are just going to bring us back to the trials.”

“You’re telling me,” Rolo sat back down in his recliner chair, flipping open the magazine. “Hey, could you flip the sign on your way out.”

“Sure,” Keith replied, grabbing his bags from the counter. “I’ll see you later.”

Rolo waved him off, “Yeah, try not to get mugged on your way home.”

The sky was colored with oranges as he exited the shop. It had been quite a long day, and he honestly hadn’t expected it to take so long to help clean Shiro’s room. The evening air was cool and sent goosebumps over his skin. Waves rolled onto the shore with rhythm, sparkling against the light of the setting sun. He could stare at the sunset for hours, letting the sounds of the ocean and the wind through the trees console him.

    The sound of metal clashing together stole his attention from the beach. Whipping around to the source of the sound, he saw a trash can next to the shop fall over on its side. A shadow moved against the building, before scurrying away with the sound of small pattering feet following it. Must be a stray, or something from the forest.

He hopped onto his bike before, sparing one last glance around him before pushing off. The city lights slowly turned on, lighting up the path. The were significantly fewer people out. Shops slowing closing and the streets becoming clearer. This was one of the reasons he preferred having a bike over a broomstick, it allowed him time to relax and just enjoy the sights of a quiet city around him. Okay, sure, he’d probably get a better experience with a broomstick but at least it also provided a much better workout and kept his mind just how he wanted it, focused.

He parked his bike next to the apartment building. His neighbor, Arty, sat outside on one of the benches, snoring away with a newspaper in his hands, like every evening. This was one of the things he enjoyed about this apartment was that there was a routine and most of the time neighbors kept to themselves, and when they did interact it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable. Except for that one guy and the sixth floor, he was a… interesting character – some think he drinks a lot of mind numbing elixir.

Keith went up to the floor his room was on, and conveniently Arty’s wife lived on the same floor. He knocked on her door, and she answered almost immediately with a steamy pie in her hands, “You’re a minute late, young man.”

Her sternness almost caught him off guard. He replied calmly, “Busy day.”

“Hm, sure. He asleep outside?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll send Mitch to get him. Oh, and here, this is for you,” she held out the pie to him.

He looked at it almost as if it would bite him, “Uh, y-you don’t need to give that.”

“Just take it. Consider it a thank you gift for all the times you helped us out.” She shoved the pie at him, “You look tired, by the way. Go get some sleep,” she turned away from him to yell inside the apartment, “Mitch! Did get you get the imp yet!”

The door shut suddenly, concealing Mitch’s reply.

Wait… did she say imp? Huh… Yeah, that’s pretty normal for them. He sighed and looked down at the pie in his hands. It appeared to be a blueberry pie? It was still warm too. Her pies weren’t bad, but she did have a tendency to put some sort… twist in them. One of her pies turned another neighbor into a book, which actually was kind of funny. He even like being a book. He had so much knowledge.

Keith’s room greeted him with familiarity. He set the pie in the fridge, where he had a feeling it might be forgotten. Much like that other thing in his fridge… he had no idea what it used to be, but now he could call it a science experiment. He wouldn’t be surprised if that substance became sentiment.

He placed his bag of supplies on the counter and unpacked it. The candles joined the others in the case under the bed. The incense found their place in the closet, accompanied with the charcoals. He took the books with him to bed, since he figured he might as well get started with understanding his whole aspect.

Curling up in bed, he opened the older looking book first. Something about it just looked more promising. He already had a decent idea of what his aspect meant, but that didn’t mean his knew how it worked with him or everything else. Fire represents passion and is associated with the sun. He just needed to understand it more and figure out how he can bring it forward without a struggle.

Maybe he was too focused on the fire… maybe it was something else? Maybe he was more Lightning or Combustion. But then he would have to be able to manipulate those aspects easier than he did with Flames, which wasn’t the case. The Flame was his aspect, not lightning or combustion though he could manipulate to an extent.

_Scrrritch_ _!_

What the? Keith snapped his attention from the book to look at the closet. The door rattled and the noise continued. Like something was scratching from the inside.

Slowly, he put the book down and crawled out of bed. He reached his wand on the nightstand, keeping his eyes on the closet doors as the rattled. Hesitantly, he stepped towards it, his wand at the ready. With a spell already in mind, he reached for the handle. The door swung open, and he was met with claws to his face.

“Gah!” He stumbled back, as the mass of fur smothered and clawed at him. He grunted as it sharp, curled claws dug into his skin. Finally, he tore the creature off him and raised his wand to attack. In front of him was a hissing, orange cat.

“Wha?” He tilted his head, curiously. The cat growled, lowering its head, eyes sharp and wide and ready for what was to come next. How did it get in here anyway? The windows were closed and so had been the door.

Doesn’t matter, Keith thought. Either way, it sure as heck was not staying here. He put his wand down and examined the little critter in front of him. It was slender, made to be quick and sharp. Definitely as sharp as its claws. It looked a little rugged as if it has lived on the streets for a long while if not its whole life. But it still looked as if it had a decent meal once in a while, must be a good scavenger and hunter.

Regardless, it didn’t belong here. Staring down at the little fur beast, he came to the conclusion that it wasn’t going to be easy. It would claw at him the second he got close, but he couldn’t just hit it with a spell – that would be completely unnecessary. He shoved his wand between the waistband of his pants and his hip, ready for when he needed it.

He took a step forward. The cat didn’t move. Another step, it’s fur stood up. He paused, keeping his eye on the cat, before finally making his move. He lunged, reaching out to grab it – it would claw but he had to catch it somehow. Instead of attacking, it dodged, flanking right and past his reach. He hit the floor with a grunt, before bolting back up and after it. It jumped over his bed, across the nightstand, knocking off his lamp, and leaped onto the curtains over the window. It crawled is way up the fabric until it entirely fell down with a clang.

Clearly, it aimed to ruin his apartment.

Keith frowned as he once again failed to latch on to it. It was very agile and sure was not happy. He was almost ready to pull out his wand when the cat slid under his bed. As he looked at it under the bed, he could see the sharp eyes reflecting back at him. It let out a low growl, almost challenging. He could try to lure it out, but he didn’t have the patience for that at the moment. He took the battle to the cat.

He crawled under the bed and was met with sharp claws. It raked its claws across his arms as he wrapped them around it and drag it out. Grunting, he pulled the hissing beast from underneath. Finally, in his hold, he stood up and walked over to the front door. It struggled against his firm grip, even started aiming for his face. He swung the door open and released the cat with a toss. Quickly slamming the door shut, so it couldn’t sneak its way back in.

Exhaling a sigh of relief, he turned to head back to his bed. He froze.

There, on his bed, sat the cat with narrowed eyes. Eyes that kept staring deep into his. Oh. Oh. 

How? When?

This cat wasn’t just any cat, so it seemed. It was a familiar – his familiar apparently. He thought back throughout the day as to when he could have come across this cat. Or when this cat had followed him home. Why did it decide that he would be its witch? It could have been lurking in the shadows all day, or even longer than that.

It didn’t look like it was going to give him any answers, though. As it seemed to huff at him, like he was lucky to have been chosen. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how he felt. Honored sure wasn’t one the feelings, though. He trudged back to the bed, the cat’s eyes followed his every move. He sat down next to it, with an unsure look. Would it try to claw at him again? He wouldn’t be surprised.

Of all the types of familiar’s he could end up with, he got a temperamental one. He didn’t even know what to do with a familiar. He would have to take care of it, that’s for sure. But what else. Was he supposed to bond with it? Probably, but how?

He knows enough that a familiar is a witch’s companions. But it can go deeper than that. It’s how it gets deeper, that he doesn’t understand.

He folded his legs under him, with a sigh. He can figure this out later. Seeing as it was not going anywhere. Keith reached for the book he had been looking at before.

The cat placed a paw over it, looking him dead in the eye. A challenge.

“Really?”


	2. Just A Little Flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starring Hunk

Hunk woke to sunlight shining through his dorm room window and a light weight on his chest. Looking down at it, he found a large mass of golden fur curled up. He grinned as the mass started to purr when he scratched behind the ear. He would always go to bed and wake up with Yellow sleeping on his chest. It’s almost hard to believe that it has been a month since he had become acquainted with the Burmese cat. It feels like they’ve known each other for years instead, but from what he heard that was normal with familiars.

As much as he would love to lie in bed all day, he had work to do. Yellow would mostly accompany him, but it seemed today would be a stay 'inside day' as he continued to purr away happily. He didn’t mind it in the slightest, after all, it was normal behavior for some familiars.

He reached for his phone to check his messages. His eyes widened as he saw the number 105 over the message icon. Gee, I wonder who they’re from? He thought, sarcastically. Over half of them were from who had he already had in mind – Lance – and the other were from his good old cryptid friend, Pidge. Honestly, he just can’t get a little break, can he?

He checked Pidge’s first, knowing that they’d have details involving work rather than about being stuck upside down in the study hall. Sure enough, he had a package to deliver and breakfast to pick for Pidge today. From the numeral typos, he imagined that Pidge was either working or working while incredibly exhausted – probably the latter. After going over Pidge’s messages, he checked Lance’s and silently prepared himself as to whatever mess he got himself into last night. He skimmed the first bunch until he reached a point to where things started to look a bit concerning.

TheTailor: duuuuuude

TheTailor: broooooo

TheTailor: have I ever told you how much I love u

TheTailor: just thought u should know

TheTailor: since I might die

 

TheTailor: nvm, im alright

TheTailor: kaltenecker still loves me

TheTailor: I thought I messed up bad but he’s just throwing a fit today

TheTailor: I think he misses u

TheTailor: u gotta come and visit man

TheTailor: pidge is coming tomorrow so u might as well too

TheTailor: unless u have other things

TheTailor: like that assignment I wont do

TheTailor: cus I already got it nail down

TheTailor: like I nearly flooded the place but

TheTailor: you know

TheTailor: who doesn’t flood their place once in a while

 

TheTailor: bro

TheTailor: bro

TheTailor: bro

TheTailor: ur asleep aren’t u

TheTailor: damn

TheTailor: anyway let me know it u jidfo idshfou

TheTailor: hdsudhfHDUISHFHFS

TheTailor: KALTNECKER IS NOT HAPPY

TheTailor: I REAPEAT NOT HAPPY

TheTailor: SOMEOTHER WHALE SHOWED UP AN TRIED TO TAKE HIS SNAKE NOW HE’S OUT FOR BLOOD

TheTailor: IM GONNA HAVE TO DO SOMETHING STUPID

TheTailor: TELL MY STORY

 

TheTailor: I survived

TheTailor: but now I’m boat less

TheTailor: and traumatized

TheTailor: who knew whales could be soooo vicious

TheTailor: now on a totally unrelated topic not about me nearly meeting my maker via whale tail of death

TheTailor:  if u come by can you bring a first aid kit

TheTailor: or just give pidge the first aid kit if ur busy

TheTailor: mine is just low on supplies so yeah

TheTailor: ill talk to u lat8

Well, that’s not concerning in the slightest… Hunk found himself in a rush to get out of bed. Yellow let out a chirrup as he jumped up, and rushed to his closet. Knowing Lance, he probably just shrugged off either a major injury or he was only slightly injured – like just a broken nail or something. But since Kaltenecker, a leviathan was involved it probably major. Maybe a broken leg? Or a deep, large bleeding cut across the back. Maybe his entire body got turned into the end result of those test dummies he would see students practice spells on during class – always shattered into a million pieces.

Hunk through a jacket on just as his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, Pidge, and answered.

“Hey, Pidge, what’s up? I’m just heading out to pick up the stuff.”

_“Okay, good. I’m at Lance’s right now. Did you get his texts?”_

“Yeah, how bad is it?”

_“Not to bad. A sprained wrist and a cut on his leg. He already stitched the cut up, though. He’s got a wrist brace on too.”_

“So, he’s alright?”

_“Yeah, but he needs more first-aid stuff.”_

“Okay, that ‘s good. I was worried he was seriously hurt, like really, really hurt. So what exactly happened? He mentioned another whale showed up and Kaltenecker reacted badly?”

_“’Badly’ is an understatement. That other whale that showed up became Kaltenecker’s snack. It was… pretty gory from what Lance said – which actually wasn’t much but the look on his face said everything.”_

“Is… Do you think there is something wrong with him?”

_“Oh, I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe shaken and stubborn for trying to calm down a gigantic, angry whale. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him – well, he probably had a lot of head injuries in the past-”_

“No! Not Lance. I was talking about Kaltenecker. He’s been acting strange lately, hasn’t he? Like isn’t this the fourth outburst this week?” Hunk questioned, as he left his dorm room.

_“Oh- I don’t know about that. I mean, he is a freaking leviathan. There aren’t many of those around, and I’m pretty sure they’re just naturally hostile. If anything’s wrong with Kaltenecker, it’s that’s he’s too nice for his kind.”_

“Yeah, guess,” Hunk sighed, as he left his room.

_“Of all the pets Lance could have, he gets a giant, monstrous whale known for devouring ships and people. He couldn’t be just fine with Blue,”_ Pidge chided.

“Well, it wasn’t on purpose,” Hunk reasoned. He could easily recall the day Lance had called him. His voice had been shaky and he sounded just like any guilty person would when he had asked for his help. Hunk still remembered wondering if it had been just some absurd prank until he had seen it with his own eyes. Lance somehow managed to befriend a leviathan, which should be near impossible. “Maybe it’s because it is young? You know, it doesn’t quite know that it's this giant killing machine and we are its lunch, yet?”

_“If that’s the case, then it won’t be long before it does know. If only there was more information on them. Then we’d know just what to expect.”_

Hunk pondered on that a bit as he left the school grounds, “They are naturally aloof, though, aren’t they? Like they hang out at the bottom of the ocean most of the time. Eat big fish, like giant squid and other whales.”

_“Yeah, if they’re on the surface it’s for air. And to be avoided at all costs, otherwise, they’ll attack anything that threatens to get near. I think I read somewhere that a large supply ship got taken down by a leviathan recently. Yeah, it was all over a bunch of news websites, with titles like “Rare Terrifying Creature that Should Not Be a Pet Devours Ship Whole!”_

Hunk chuckled, “you should tell Lance that.”

_“I did. He just said ‘Kaltenecker is precious and would never do that’, even though he literally nearly died last night because of him.”_

“I thought you said he was alright?”

_“Oh, he is. He’s taking a nap right now. He just got really lucky last night.”_

“Okay, if you say so,” Hunk sighed. “I’ll talk to you when I get there, kay? I’m almost at Balmera Café.”

_“Ah, I see how it is. You want to talk to your girlfriend, huh?”_

“Shay’s not my girlfriend! She’s just a really good friend of mine, who I admire a lot.”

Pidges snickered, _“sure. But, fine, I’ll let you go so you can flirt.”_

“I’m not going to flirt!”

_“Uh huh. Can you get me one of those peanut butter brownies and make sure to get something for Lance, too?”_

“Sure thing.”

_“You’re the best, Hunk. Good luck with flirting.”_

“Pidge.”

_“Bye!”_

Hunk sighed as he entered the cafe, “Bye.”

He felt realized to see that they weren’t too busy at the moment, but that wouldn’t last long. Balmera Café had become really popular quickly, notorious for their seemingly enchanted baked goods and to-die-for coffee. Pidge had their coffee almost every day, to the point that all the café employees knew her well enough, and by extension knew Hunk as he ended up being the one to pick up her coffee when she wasn’t able to.

Shay was at one of the registers, smiling to one of the customers. Her eyes flickered past and lit up as she saw Hunk. She gave him a wave and handed the customer their change. They moved and Hunk took their place.

“Hey, Hunk! The usual right?”

“Yeah, and one of those peanut butter brownies. And could I get a box of donuts?”

“Sure thing,” she typed in his order. “It’s a good thing you came by when you did. The shop’s not too busy during this time. Morning rush cleared out a while ago. The next rush shouldn’t be in for another hour or so.”

“It’s really busy during those rushes, I take it?”

Shay’s shoulder’s slumped a bit, “Oh definitely. We didn’t think we be such a hit, and so quickly too. Not that I’m complaining or anything. I’m really proud if anything. My family worked hard for this shop.”

“It sure did pay, though, huh?”

“Yes, and I couldn’t be more proud,” Shay straightens up, “but sometimes I wish I could get a little break, you know, to work on making spells. Oh, that reminds me, how was that reassurance spell? Did it do the trick?”

Hunk nods, “you have no idea. My anxiety practically disappeared for a good five hours after I did it. I was actually able to relax for once.”

“That’s great, Hunk! I was hoping it would work for you. I tried it a few times and didn’t see any issues, but I still could help but worry if it something might go wrong – when the spell wore off anyway. You can’t really worry too much when you’re under its influence.”

“That’s kind of the point, isn’t it, though?” Hunk smiled at her sheepishness.

“Yeah. But I wish I worked longer than five hours. My goal was to get at least eight hours, but you know how tricky it can get,” she replied, tugging at the sleeves of her shirt.

Hunk scratched the back of his neck, “maybe some jet stones might help. I’ve got some of those at home we could use.”

“That’s a good idea. Jet stones combined with the Danburite crystals would even increase the amount of relief the user will experience. Oh, and maybe some quartz too!” Shay grabbed a pen from a holder next the register and began to write the back of her hand. She bit her lip and hummed, “but the spell could still use some improving.”

“Maybe when you have some free time you could come over and we can work on it together?”

Shay flushed, “I’m free tomorrow morning. What about you?”

“Nothing planned so far,” Hunk replied. He could feel the heat on his face and tried his best to remain cool.

“Great!” Shay smiled.

The door to the back then opened and Shay’s brother, Rax, came through holding a large bag and a cardboard cup holder with both Hunk’s and Pidge’s drinks placed in. He walked up to the till next to Shay and set the bag down.

“Hey Hunk, out making deliveries again?” He asked.

“Yeah, you know how it is,” Hunk grinned sheepishly. “Well, I’d better get going. You know, to make sure Pidge doesn’t die without her coffee.”

Shay laughed, “Of course, tell her I said hi.”

“I’ll call you later?”

“I’ll be waiting,” She waved as he left the shop.

Hunk could not control the amount of heat that fled to his face. He found himself wanting to call her almost immediately, but he still had one more stop to make, and he still had to go to Lance’s. Even so, there was a little more hop in his steps as he made his way down the street.

Every meeting with Shay tended to brighten his day. He couldn’t explain it – well, he could. He was hopelessly head over heels for her. Who could blame him really? She was just so amazing. Every smile, every glance, every touch sent him to cloud nine. It was like she was from another world.

She very well could be, Hunk thought. She was from a different country, one that wasn’t too welcoming to magic. She and her family moved to Altea because of the tensions that were there. Hunk still remembers the day she had shown up next door. He was young, only six years old, and he had immediately thought, ‘hey, a new friend’. She was shy at first, but after a shared cookie it was an instant friendship. A friendship he never wanted to end. Which was why he didn’t quite know what to do with his feelings.

Part of him wanted to bury the feelings deep down and ignore them, but another part just wanted to tell her everything – even if it might ruin everything they had. Although, he doubted it actually destroy their friendship. They had been friends for so long and he wouldn’t let something like an unrequited stop that, and he was sure Shay wouldn’t either. However, the fear was still there, always lurking in the back of his mind.

Hunk sighed, as it was a common thing for people, who were hopelessly in love and didn’t know what to do, to do.

The Post Office was on a corner of a street and tended to be busy. You’d think witches would use owls, or crows, or even self-enchanted packages instead of the mail service. But it wasn’t that simple, especially when you order things online. The world was turning more towards science and was leaning away from witchcraft, which wasn’t all that bad. Practicing magic was actually easier nowadays – being able to share spells online, get resources easier with a click of a mouse, and even meet other witches with some incredibly helpful advice. Magic was still helpful, though. For instance, Pidge had a spell that could improve her Wi-Fi connection. As the world grows, things become more complex with magic and the modern day ways.

The Post Office was clear today, but it would only be a matter of time before many witches came in for their packages – unless the Post Office decided to start using magic to deliver the mail, which wouldn’t surprise him.

Hunk went over and looked over the many, many boxes on the walls, stopping when he saw the number 451. Pidge had an extra key made especially for Hunk since she would always be able to get her mail, so he always had one on him. The trust she had in Hunk was incredibly flattering, to say the least. If it were Lance it would be a different story – which was a lie. Hunk sometimes found himself dying to know just what gadget Pidge had gotten, or whatever was in those boxes she got in the mail. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t snooped a few times in the past, but that was only because the boxes looked so tempting! He manages to hold himself back more often than he used too, ever since he had witnessed Pidge get her revenge on Lance for snooping.

Hunk pulled out several envelopes from the box and one parcel card. The office clerk was waiting for him when he came to the desk. Hunk handed him the card as usual, and the clerk disappeared into the back. She came back out with a medium sized box, and Hunk found himself relieved it wasn’t something too big. His hands were already carrying a large bag and coffee, and a large parcel would have been heck to deal with.

She handed him the box and he placed it in the bag, on top of the donut box. He nodded to her and she went back to sorting the mail. Must be a busy day today for her – or it is about to be.

Hunk left the Post Office, and as he went down the busy street, looked at his phone. No new messages and it was only eleven o’clock. He approximated that it would take about fifteen minutes to get to Lance’s. Unless he was being followed. Then he’d take about an hour – but no one in their right mind would follow him.

Lance lives in a dorm, a couple doors down from Hunk, at the Garrison. But on weekends, or days when there’s no school, he stays at his other place. His other place being a small hut, secluded from the city on the other side of the island. He has his reasons for it. Hunk and Pidge are the only ones who know about it. Pidge was actually kind of responsible for it too. But in the end, it was Lance’s choice that he made.

Hunk had ended up helping Lance build the hut, as well as Pidge. Pidge was in a similar situation as Lance, only she had been like that for longer than Lance. She had a dorm at the Garrison but spent the majority of her time in her treehouse in the Silent Forest. She was out there so often you’d think she loved the outdoors. Which was in fact, not true in the slightest. But she also had her reasons too.

Weaving through people on the street, Hunk made his way to the outer edges of the city. Eventually, he found himself at a large wired fence, that extended around the majority of the city, separating the forest from the urban. He walked down the line until he reached a hole in the fencing. The spared glance around the area was to ensure that no one was around, and he found no one, as was expected. He slipped through the hole, careful as to prevent his clothes from getting caught or the bag.

A small path that he had taken many times lead deep into the forestation. The forest was silent, not a surprise given the name, as he walked down. There weren’t any other signs of life as he could tell. No chirping from birds that should be resting in the trees, no light buzz from insects that surely would be on the ground, and no snapping of branches and twigs from the other wildlife that typically would be found. Even as the silence sent shivers down Hunk’s spine, he knew it was normal. There was always a feeling of wrongness in the forest. That could just be because of the history of it. People disappearing in it and so on. It was things like that that made Hunk wonder why he kept walking through this forest.

At least, he knew that Pidge and Lance were waiting for him. That always kept him going through, even with the anxiety lurking in the back of his head.

Lance had the tendency to drag him into many situations, but he always found himself unable to be mad at him. Probably because most of Lance’s ideas were inspired by good intentions? He always seemed to want to cheer people up and just distract them from things that were bothering them, which led to some pretty amusing experiences. Or terrifying ones when his ideas end up taking the wrong turn. Kaltenecker being an example of both a terrifying and amusing situation. Pidge was similar to Lance, but her ideas tended to hold more science or experimental intentions. Like that time, she wanted to see what could happen if she super charged one of her many devices with a spell and accidentally took out the power to the entire city. Granted she immediately got it back working, and no one thought anything of it (suspecting that it was just a witch messing around with their lightning aspect). She was always full of questions and a strong desire to get answers. Hunk was able to relate to the both of them. He loved seeing the results of many experiments unless he felt they would only result poorly and maybe hurt someone. And he while he didn’t like getting in trouble, sometimes he found it was worth it when he’d think about how much he and his friend were smiling during it all.

The path went down, through large tree branches and roots. He pushed the branches and leaves out of the way, and watched his feet as he stepped over the large roots of the massive redwood trees. Not much light made its way through the foliage of the trees, leaving Hunk shaded. Pity since it was such a nice day out with the sky clear and bright. The early morning mist was beginning to clear out as Hunk approached a large tree.

The tree had to be one of the biggest, in both width and length, of the Silent of Forest. The path ended just in front a large whole that was in its trunk. Hunk guessed it was Pidge’s work. She must have used one of her spells to modified the shape to the tree to make the large archway, without actually damaging the tree. Just one of the many things she was capable of.

Hunk pulled out his wand – one of his treasured items, as he had made it himself. It took hours to get the details of the handle just right, and the yellow gem placed neatly in the skillfully carved designed. It was a family tradition to make your own, and it was something that was taken quite seriously in Hunk’s family. Lance’s family was similar, believing in making their own wand rather than buying one would encourage stronger magic and a build of character, much like making their own broom. Although, Lance’s family was a bit relaxed about it than Hunk’s. Probably because of Lance’s older siblings who complained about it.

He aimed his wand at the center of the archway. He mumbled the spell, keeping quiet in the forest, and moved his wand in a motion that mimicked the writing of words. The cracks and crevices of the wood in the tree began to glow green, and the archway followed suit. In a burst of light, a door emerged and filled in the archway.

Placing his wand back in his back pocket, Hunk approached the newly formed door. He knocked twice before opening it and then walked on through. The door shut behind him and he continued on a now stone path. The stones were mossy. The smell of then salty ocean filled his nostrils as he came to a hut built into the large trees. He remembers how pidge had used her magic to use the make the trees part of the hut, and he remembers manipulating the stones to make a foundation for it. The hut was pretty big for a hut, but only one or two people could live in it.

He came the front “door” which nothing but a beaded string curtain. You’d think Lance could take the time to actually make a door. But to be fair, it’s not like there was anyone nearby to break in and rob him. This was the other side of the island, where no one went. No one, except for Pidge, Lance, and Hunk.

“Knock, knock,” Hunk said, as he tapped against the wooden wall. He walked throw the beaded curtain without waiting for a reply, as he was always welcome. The interior was, well, messy to say the least. In the side of the hut was a small fireplace with a cauldron, clearly still messy from the last potion brew. There were stains and ingredients scattered about, mostly around the cauldron at least. In the center of the hut was a low, round coffee table and on it were many books and pages with chicken scratch writing. Next to the coffee table was a couch, that also had many books and an open med kit. On her laptop, Pidge was sitting in a beanbag chair she seemed to have taken ownership of. On the other side of the hut, farthest from Hunk, was a makeshift bed where he could make out the lanky form of Lance tangled in the sheets. He appeared to be asleep, or at least Hunk hoped he was.

Pidge looked up from whatever she was doing, hopefully not hacking into the government again. “Hey, you got the goods?” She asked.

Hunk lifted the bag and coffee, “of course I do.”

“Gimme,” she reached out.

“Here I thought you knew some manners,” Hunk kept himself from rolling his eyes. Even so, he walked over to her and held out the coffee.

“Please, gimme,” she corrected herself and took her coffee. Hunk placed the tray on the coffee table, or rather on a book that was on the coffee table as there was no space left that was not occupied by a book of a sheet a paper. He set the bag on the floor next to Pidge, so she could take her package and the donuts. As she did so, Hunk cleared a spot on the couch and found his eyes lingering on the med kit.

“Uh oh.”

Pidge looked up at him, her parcel in hand, “what?”

“I forgot to grab a new first aid kit for Lance,” Hunk bit his lip.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s fine Hunk. Lance is fine. We can get one another day. Besides, that one still has the basic things he would need. Assuming as he doesn’t go out playing with Kaltenecker and hurt himself again,” Pidge reassured him. She placed her parcel into her bag sitting on the other side of her and zipped the bag shut.

“Still,” Hunk sat down, “I should have remembered that. It was pretty important.”

Pidge shrugged, “It happens sometimes. And your hands were kinda full anyway. A new med kit would have been difficult to carry with everything else, no matter how strong you are. Donut?” She offered Hunk the box of donuts.

“Thanks,” Hunk said.

“You thank me, but you’re the one who paid for it,” Pidge smirked, “Hunk, you’re too nice.”

“Well, you know, a good deed will bring good things back to you tenfold, as the saying goes.”

“That only works if you use the right spell,” Pidge replied and took a bite out of her peanut butter brownie. “Sooo… have you finally asked Shay out yet?”

“ _Pidge_!”

“So, no?”

“We’re just friends!”

“Yet, when you came through that lame excuse of a door, you had a skip in your step and a smitten smile on your face. If anything, I’d say you’re hopelessly in love.”

“No-maybe- that’s none of your business. Shay and I are perfectly happy as friends,” Hunk shakes his head at her.

“I wasn’t saying you weren’t. Just that you like her and she likes you and it could be a thing if you just take that step.”

Hunk crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, “I know that- I just want to make sure that it’s…”

“A safe move?”

“I guess.”

“Hunk, I can tell you right now, that no matter what happens you and Shay will always be friends,” Pidge put her hand on his shoulder.

Hunk looked up at her, “you think so?”

“I know so.”

“…You wouldn’t happen to have any calculations to prove that, would you?”

“I don’t need calculations for that. But it still could get some, if you really want it.” Pidge shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. Her face relaxed and reflected utter bliss. She had been waiting for this coffee for while.

Hunk nodded and decided to finally take a sip of his own coffee. It had cooled off quite of a bit but was still warm enough to soothe him. The first taste was sharp at first before leveling out into a gentle hit. “I have to call Shay later today anyway. She wants to work on some spells with me. Maybe we can talk about that stuff then?”

Pidge immediately perked up, “really? That already sounds like a date.”

“It’s not a date Pidge.”

“I know, but still – that is pretty date-like. Just try not to do any love confessing while you’re under the influence of whatever spell you two are going to be making. That will not end well.”

“Obviously, and we’re working on a spell that relieves anxiety.”

“Aren’t there already a bunch of those?”

“Yeah, but it’s nice to make your own spells, right?”

“I guess- nice and romantic,” she grins.

Hunk rolled his eyes this time, “you’re more pestering than Lance.”

“Who’s more pestering than me?” Lance’s head popped up from beneath the sheets of his bed. He looked more tangled in them than he had when Hunk had just arrived. He looked exhausted if those bags under his eyes could tell.

“Pidge is,” Hunk answered. Hunk tried to reassure himself that his friend was fine. That the worst had passed. But, he couldn’t stop thinking about how next time Lance wouldn’t be so lucky. He can see a few bruises littered on the exposed skin, but nothing major. His injured leg was hidden under the blankets, and his sprained wrist was not in Hunk’s line of sight. Hunk forced himself to released the worry and stress he felt in his muscles. His friend was fine.

“What!? No way!”

Pidge laughed, “It’s true, Lance. I’ve stolen your throne.”

“Oh yeah?” Lance sat up and smirked. “We’ll see about that! _Hunk and Shay sitting in a tree~. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”_

“Lance!” Hunk screeched.

Pidge joined in, “ _First comes love, then comes marriage, then a baby in a baby carriage~!”_

_“_ Pidge, no! Not you too!”

As pestering as they were, Hunk wouldn’t trade them for the world.


	3. A Proposition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura kicks butt.

Shiro found himself eye to eye with a very disgruntled looking cat. He blinked and it just huffed, as if it had been judging him. He sure felt as though it were judging him anyway. He looked up over to Keith, who looked even more disgruntled than the cat. There were scratches on his face and arms, and bags under his eyes.

“Uh, is this yours?” He pointed to the Egyptian Mau – he figured that was its breed anyway.

“I guess,” Keith shrugged as he sat down next to Shiro. The cat instantly laid itself across his lap and let out a low growl.

“You guess?”

“She broke into my house last night and she hasn’t left me alone since,” Keith grumbled, frowning at it in his lap.

“I’ve never heard of a familiar doing that. She is your familiar, right? Not just some cat that’s following you?”

Keith sighed, “yeah. Of all the familiars I get, I get one that doesn’t like me.” He hissed as it the cat dug its claws into his thigh, letting out a low growl.

“I don’t think that’s the case. If she were, she wouldn’t have chosen you as a familiar.” Shiro dared to reach out to it. He scratched behind its ears and it purred in response. “What’s her name anyway?”

“Name? Oh, I don’t know.”

“You haven’t given her one yet?”

“No… am I supposed to?”

“Normally,” Shiro chuckled. He knew a good deal about familiars even though he didn’t have one himself. Familiars chose their persons. Shiro just hasn’t been chosen yet. “So what are you thinking for a name?”

“…Red, I guess?”

“Just Red?”

“Yeah. It just feels right.”

“Hmm, well, Red sure is nice to me,” he said as Red leaned against his hand. “What did you do to make her mad at you?”

“I didn’t do anything. She just attacked me!” Keith barks back, throwing his arms up.

Shiro laughed but before he could reply a large horn blared throughout the stadium. The commentator's voice echoed throughout and signaled the beginning of the tournament. The crowd cheered as two witches entered onto the platform in the center of the stadium, wands at the ready. Shiro vaguely recognized the one on the right side of the area to be a student from the Garrison, a class above him. The other witch looked to be from out of town, probably representing different school - Arusia School of Magick given the uniform they wore.

The platform shifted and began to form a new battleground of a sort. A large tower sprouted from the ground and on the top of it was the trophy they would have to get before the other. Stairs formed on the sides of the platform in almost maze-like patterns, some ending in the middle, leading to dead ends, and others starting in the center, going to the top. Then the tower and stairs began to spin, each with varying directions. Clearly, they would have out how to get to the top without falling or getting stuck, all while sabotaging their opponent’s attempts to beat them.

While Shiro figured it would be polite to pay attention to this match between these two witches, he found himself not very engaged. Nothing personal really, just that these games weren’t his kind of entertainment. Even though he didn’t typically fancy the sport, Keith and Allura did. Allura being the main reason he and Keith attend the games, as she was one of the best players of Magitro – and international champion, if you will. Allura wouldn’t be on until after 3 more games – her game being the last.

As Shiro turned his attention away from the game to look at Keith, he found that he wasn’t paying attention either. Red was purring contently in his lap and Keith was frozen in awe. Red must have been really grouchy when they first met last night if Keith’s shock at this new behavior had anything to say about it. Shiro let a small smile tug at his lips, knowing it would only be a matter of time before Red and Keith ended being more comfortable with one another. That was how it tended to go. A rough start before a pleasant bond. Red was already making it clear to everyone else this Keith was her human, her person and no one else’s.

A large blast of lightning shocked him back to the game. The witch from the Garrison had created what looked to be a lightning cage, surrounding their opponent. They then started climbing to the top of the tower. Their opponent was trapped, and would undeniably fall if they didn’t act quickly. Luckily, with a flick of their and spell that wouldn’t reach the audience’s ears, the lightning grew brighter, stronger. They waved aimed their wand at the other, and the lightning dissipated cage and moved to the tower, climbing the up walls. The Garrison witch took notice and prepared a counter attack, stopping the lightning from doing the same thing to them as it had to their opponent, but a large spark hit them and they tumble down the stairs they were on. The Arusian witch was already half way up the tower, moving with air on their feet.

The crowd chanted as the Arusian neared the top, only to be stopped by another cage. The match would continue like this until one of them got the trophy, that being the Garrison as they abuse their Caging spell. The Arusian did manage to get the other trapped in a small tornado for a while, but the Garrison witch was quick to dispel it.

“I get the feeling this is both their first game,” Keith commented on their performance. Shiro nodded in agreement. The set up of the platform and the way they fought gave away the fact that they were both newbies. Newbies tended to have the first game too, so the next ones would be more entertaining. For more experienced players, the game was more intense – especially when teams are involved. Teams and singles were separated from one another and typically happened at different times. Later, teams would be playing and the stadium would be even more full than it is now as team matches always brought in a bigger crowd.

“Allura should be on after the next three,” Shiro said.

“Is that so?” Keith gave Shiro a knowing smirk. Shiro flushed and replied with a warning look. Keith just shrugged, “any idea who she’s up against?”

“Not a clue, but they’ve got to be good if they're going up against her.”

Keith snorted, “they don’t stand a chance.”

The next three games were more engaging than the first, but Shiro didn’t pay them too much attention. The sole reason he was here was to support Allura, who looked ready to knock her opponent down a few sizes when she entered the stadium.

The announcer’s voice bellowed through the speakers, “For the last game, we have two very outstanding witches taking the floor. On the right is the reigning champion, Allura, member of the Lions!”

Even though Allura also attended the Garrison, she did not wear their uniform. She wasn’t part of the Garrison’s Magitro group, she had her own. It was a rare thing to see, but being part of a powerful family allowed many perks such as this. Her group, that which she was the only member of at the moment, was called the Lions. Whether or not she intended on staying as a lone member of the group, Shiro wasn’t too sure. Many people asked to join her group and most were denied and instead, she offered to teach them. Shiro had a suspicion she had other plans going on, yet to be revealed.

Allura stood tall, proud, and looked absolutely _gorgeous_. As usual.  Her white hair was tied up into a neat bun, the uniform she wore was like a tight suit perfect for quick movement and able to provide enough protection from certain impacts. Her wand was held firmly and she looked determined.

“And on the left, we a relatively new player who has yet to be defeated, Lotor, a member of the Garrison!”

Shiro recognized the name and the face of the boy who stood on the other end of the stadium. He was in the same class as him, and if there was one thing he knew about Lotor was that he was grossly obsessed with Allura. Everything about him reeked of creeper and dangerous. Shiro didn’t like him in the slightest, neither did Keith. Allura especially hated him and for good reason. He always found news ways to make her uncomfortable.

Lotor wore the same uniform the other Garrison players wore and it didn’t really look the good on him. The orange just wasn’t his color. He was shorter than Allura, probably by a few inches. His white hair was tied up in a long ponytail, and he had a smug look plastered on his face.

“I hope she kicks his ass good,” Keith commented. Red appeared to have fallen asleep on Keith’s lap. Shiro was surprised how she managed to do so with so much noise going on around them.

“Oh, she will,” Shiro grinned. This was one game he would enjoy watching.

The platform shifted and this time the structure was more complicated. From the bleachers, he could see just how tricky it was. They were floating bits of stone slabs the looked to the only was to the trophy, which was moving around on its own. They would have to catch the trophy while having to travel on those unstable looking slabs. There was also bound to be a trick somewhere.

The horn sounded, and Lotor was the first to go on offense. He aimed his wand and sent out a flash. Allura stumbled back and blinked – she didn’t appear to be unable to move, but Shiro could tell she was having a hard time seeing things now. A temporary blinding spell – not so much as blinding though but making a bunch of distracting spots in her vision and making her dizzy. Lotor sprung into action, climbing on the nearest slab and hoping on the next.

Allura recovered quickly and ran to a slab as well. With a wave of her wand, the slab she stood on glowed and moved to her command. She raised her wand up and so the slab moved up. She aimed in the direction where the trophy was. Lotor took notice of this and the face he made was priceless (Shiro wished he had a camera). Allura grinned as she flew past him.

Lotor pulled out his wand and out a ray of lightning. It traveled up and landed a hit right on Allura’s slab that then began to crumble from under her feet. She yelped as she fell from her height, luckily landing on another floating slab that bobbed up and down upon her impact. She was now lower than Lotor, who continued his way up to the top, chasing the moving trophy.

Allura repeated the same spell, this time moving faster. Lotor was getting too close to the trophy, which was odd in such a short amount of time. Suddenly, a round, dark object hurtled from the side, striking Lotor right in the hip. He yelled as he was smacked off his slab and fell down past Allura. There was the trick. He landed on a slab with a grunt.

Allura’s focus was taken off of Lotor as another dark orb came for Allura, but unlike Lotor she was prepared. She held out her hand and pulled her energy forward. Pink light radiated from her body before focusing on her hand. The orb ran straight for her before being abruptly stopped by a pink shield that materialized in front of her palm. The orb’s form shattered upon impact and Allura brought the shield down by lowering her hand and continued forward.

Lotor was rushing to catch up and from the glow of his wand, he had a spell ready. This time he aimed for her wand. Unfortunately, there weren’t any rules against targeting wands. In an instant, Allura’s wand was shocked from her hand and the spell on her slab was gone. She now had to rely on moving from slab to slab. But the slabs were farther apart the higher they went.

Lotor sent out another ray of lighting, and her slab crumbled once again. Allura flung herself off the unstable slab and onto another. He hands grasped the edges and she huffed. She had to knock Lotor down somehow.

In the corner of her eye, another orb was shooting towards her. She raised her shield again and the impact sent her stumbling back, almost off the edge. When she looked down to where she could have fallen and noticed Lotor was no longer where she had last seen him. He was ahead, deflecting orbs and hopping from slab to slab, using bursts of lightning to propel himself to each slab as they got more distant from one another. The trophy was moving faster too now, zipping from right to left, forward and back.

Allura pondered for a moment, as she watched Lotor try to deflect the orbs. She had a plan in a matter of seconds. She pulled her energy forward and her body was illuminated in a pink glow. She focused on the slab high above her and leaped. She seemed to fly as she propelled herself upward to the slab. She landed gracefully on it and repeated until she was on the same level as Lotor, who was still struggling in his chase for the trophy. She would not lose to him.

The orbs were more frequent, faster and stronger on this level. Which was perfect. Lotor made eye contact with her and smirked, preparing the same trick again. Allura dodged by levitating to another slide, swifter than he could respond. Behind Lotor an orb spawned and shot out towards him. The noise it made caught his attention and he flung himself to the next slab, almost messing up his footing. The orb flew past and went for Allura. She brought up her shield once more, whispering a few words and the shield shimmered. With a slight change of angle, the orb hit and was cast back. Lotor couldn’t even react when the orb collided dead on his chest. With a choked cough, he flew off his slab and down to the bottom where a net hung to catch fallen players. It was incredibly laughable as he screeched all the way down.

Allura turned her attention back onto the trophy as it zipped past her. She hoped from one slab to another, raising her shield and deflecting the increasingly stronger orbs as they shot out. She was beginning to run out of breath as the trophy kept slipping from her grasp and she knew she had to hurry should Lotor get back up to her level.

Two orbs nearly knocked her down as she jumped, one nicked her shoulder with enough momentum to send her stumbling back. Intensely, she held her ground. Then finally she saw her opportunity. The trophy’s pattern of movement was in her mind and she waited.

It zipped to her right and she jumped forward. The trophy then flew right in front of her, and into her hands. She gripped it to keep from falling and she laughed as she hung in midair. The trophy gleamed and the horned sound for the end of the game. She had won.

Shiro stood up from his seat and cheered with the rest of the crowd. Keith clapped, unable to stand with him as Red dug her claws into his thigh again as if to say _‘just try and push me off your lap, just try’._

The platform shifted back to its original flat form as Allura stood in the center, trophy in hand. Lotor climbed up from the netted area and dusted himself off. Honestly, what should he have expected? To win? Ha, not after all he’s done. It was about time he got knocked down a peg, especially by Allura.

* * *

 

Shiro and Keith met Allura in the locker room. She had already changed out of her Magitro uniform and was chugging a bottled water when they entered. She looked exhausted and no one was surprised. To perform magic without a wand can be stressful, but to do what she had done? Pulling all her quintessence forward and use it in such a way for a long period of time was something even the most skilled and famous witches could hope to accomplish.

Allura stood up to greet them and Shiro noted the little shake in her body as she moved. She had really pushed herself today, probably more than necessary.

“I’m glad you guys could make it,” she said with a smile and hugged the both of them.

“We wouldn’t miss one of your games for the world,” Shiro said and pulled back from the hug. He noticed that she had her wand and figured that one of the arena worker’s had picked it up for her.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, “especially since we get to see you kick people’s ass. Seriously, Lotor didn’t stand a chance.”

“Oh, you guys,” she playfully slapped Shiro’s shoulder.

“So, how did it feel to finally knock Lotor down?” Keith asked.

“It felt _fantastic._ And knowing him, he’s going to try to fight me again and I will surely enjoy kicking his butt again.”

“The I've gotta make sure I have the day off when that happens,” Shiro nodded. “Wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“It will be even better than this time, I can promise that,” she leered.

“Why don’t we grab some lunch while we talk?” Shiro suggested. “You should probably eat something to get that energy back.”

 Allura and Keith nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” Allura said and grabbed her bag that was sitting on a bench. “I just have to run some things by the Coordinator and then I’ll meet you both outside?”

“Alright, we’ll just be at the front entrance when you’re done,” Shiro replied.

Allura left and Keith and Shiro made their way outside. It was about mid-afternoon, and from the appearance of the sky, it was going to start raining soon. Not many witches had been on their brooms earlier that day, so it was to be expected. Many witches were entering vehicles or riding bikes as they left the stadium. Some of them would return later to watch the teams play.

Keith stood awkwardly against the wall with his head tilted to the side. Red sat on his shoulder, ears straight up and eyes flickering back and forth – alert. Keith seemed to take notice of this as he glanced at Red’s behavior.

“Something wrong?” Shiro asked as he leaned against the wall beside him.

“I don’t know?” Keith replied, “she just started acting like this.” Shiro followed Red’s gaze, which seemed to go across the parking lot to a gray vehicle. Suddenly, Red let out a chittering sound and leaped from his shoulder, bolting down the road towards the car before disappearing behind it.

“What?” Keith frowned, “Should I go after her?”

“If you want, but chances are she already long gone. It’s just how Familiars are sometimes.”

“What do you mean?”

“They don’t always stick to their person’s side. Sometimes they’ve got other places to be. Don’t worry, though, she’ll show up again later.”

“Oh… What other places does she need to be at?”

Shiro shrugged, “beats me. Maybe she’s meeting up with other Familiars. I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of Familiar hide out somewhere in Altea.”

Keith turned to look at Shiro, “a Familiar hideout? Seriously?”

“Yeah. That’s another thing that Familiars have. Hideouts. What they do there is unknown. But there are theories.”

Keith perked up immediately at the word ‘theories’ which led to Shiro letting out a small chuckle. His interest in anything with the word theory always never failed to amuse him. He was pretty sure that Keith still had his conspiracy board hidden under his bed. It was likely that Keith would start another conspiracy board dedicated to familiars – he wouldn’t be the only one. Mr. Holt used to have a conspiracy board set up in his classroom for students to look at and share their own theories – some actually seem possible and others were just plain comical. Unfortunately, it was cleared out after the incident. Shiro wondered what happen to that board. Maybe it was shoved into a storage room at the Garrison? If so, he and Keith should go looking for it some time.

Allura came out shortly after Shiro had shared a few theories with Keith. She looked slightly more stressed than she had when they first saw her out of the arena.

“Forgive me for taking so long. I ran into a minor _inconvenience_ on the way out,” she explained.

“Are you okay?” Shiro asked and pushed himself off the wall so he stood straight. “You look a little tense.”

“I fine. Lotor just thought he could share his opinion about my performance,” she said curtly.

“Seriously?” Keith growled, “He lost the game and goes on criticizing _your_ performance.”

“Oh, I know. I gave him a piece of my mind in return. All I can say is that he is lucky players aren’t allowed to get into a physical conflict outside the games otherwise he’d have a broken nose right about now.”

“I’m not a player,” Keith said. “Just tell me where he his and he’ll get that broken nose.”

“Keith,” Shiro warned. “You don’t need to get into that kind of trouble.”

Allura smiled, “As much as I would appreciate it, Shiro is right, Keith. It just isn’t worth it.”

Keith frowned and shrugged, “fine. But if you change your mind, just let me know.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” she replied. Then, as though she seemed to notice something, her eyes narrowed, “Keith, didn’t you have a familiar with you?”

Keith nodded, “yeah, she kinda just left.”

“Oh. When did she choose you? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Just last night. I came home and she was just there. I still have no idea how she got in,” Keith answered.

“I see...” she nodded and her brows furrowed before raising back up. “Well, I’m happy for you. Familiars are really the best company at times,” she replied. Just then a small mouse popped out of her bag, scurried up her arm and onto her shoulder. Shiro recognized the mouse to be Chuchule, the second largest out of the bunch. The mouse squeaked at Allura who responded with a look of curiosity, before smiling and nodding. Chuchule then hopped back down into her bag, where the other three were.

“What was that about?” Shiro asked, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“Oh, Chuchule just said that we should go to The Hive to eat,” she replied.

“That place again? Don’t the mice want to try something different for once?” Shiro grinned.

“It’s too late. That place is like our own hideout now,” Keith said. “And it’s thanks to the mice.”

“The Hive is one of the few restaurants in Altea that is fine with me bringing them in. The others think they’ll contaminate the food. Honestly, my Familiars are very courteous and they wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“That is true,” Shiro agreed. “Why don’t we head down there right now. It shouldn’t be too busy during this time of day.”

The Hive was a simple restaurant located not too far from the Balmera Café. The owner was a garden-loving witch who loved and valued bees. Thus the restaurant ended up being bee themed. The employees wore black and yellow striped uniforms and many food items on the menu had bun puns in the name. Shiro honestly could barely remember what the restaurant looked like before it had undergone the transformation into The Hive. The owner knew Allura personally and so they had no problem with her Familiars. So the three of them ended up having dinner there a lot more than they would care to admit. It had gotten to the point where they even have their own reserved spot for them.

The owner was the one to greet them as they entered and she grinned brightly as she gestured to their regular table, “I’ll have someone be with you shortly.” It was likely that she would come talk to them later with a desperate need to know how Allura’s Magitro match went.

They sat down at their table and a waiter came by and dropped off their menus.

Keith didn’t open his menu and took a sip of the glass of water in front of him. “I’ll just order what I normally get here,” was his response when Shiro asked him why he didn’t look at the menu.

“You’re not going to try something different?” Allura asked. “Doesn’t get boring to have the same thing every time.”

“I’d rather stick to what I know. Wouldn’t want to risk another ‘Fried-Parsnip-Pear’ incident,” he said and glanced over at Shiro.

“Okay, I thought we agreed never to speak of that,” Shiro grimaced at the memory.

“‘Fried-Parsnip-Pear’ incident?” Allura questioned. “Care to elaborate.”

“We were at this weird restaurant that only ran for like a month before it closed down, and Shiro thought he’d try something different. Long story short – he had to go to the hospital for food poisoning.”

“Oh my,” She covered her mouth her hand, “it was that bad?”

“Yeah,” Shiro replied. “I’ll never eat pears again.”

“It was horrible to witness too.” Shiro squinted his eyes at Keith, who simply smirked.

The waiter came back and took their orders. Allura ordered a “BEEfy Stir Fry” and a small, similar dish just for the mice. Keith ordered the same “HONEY-SWEET Steak” as usual and Shiro, the fool, ordered something different called “The QUEEN BEE Soup”. While it doesn’t sound too bad, but he didn’t even ask what was in it which is just inviting a horrible experience.

“You fool,” Keith said. “You still haven’t learned.”

“Relax. It won’t be bad because this place always has good food,” Shiro countered. Keith just shook his head and looked disappointedly at the table.

“Allura can drive you to the hospitable this time.”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic,” she said. “Shiro’s right. This place always has good food.”

 _Bing!_ Allura jumped and looked down at her bag. “Hm?” She rummaged through it and pulled out her phone as it buzzed rapidly. Frowning, she tapped away on the screen for a few seconds before placing it down on the table with a sigh. Shiro and Keith gave her questioning looks and she explained, “just some people interested in training.”

“Oh?” Shiro queried, “Are you finally going to add members to the Lions?”

“No – well, maybe…” Allura confessed. “ _They_ won’t become part of the Lions. I’m only going to teach them some of the basics and some tricks to use. But I do plan of adding members.”

“Who’ve you got in mind?”

“You two.”

Shiro and Keith blinked, “what?”

“I want you both to join the Lions.”

Shiro stared unsure of what to say. Keith, on the other hand, replied, “Sure. I’ll join.”

“Really?” Allura beamed.

“Yeah. Some one-on-one fights might help me connect to my aspect more. Plus, that means I might get the chance to kick Lotor’s ass and not get in trouble for it.”

Allura laughed, “I guess with that reasoning I shouldn’t be surprised. But it won’t be one-on-one.”

Shiro finally shook out of his surprise and inquired, “Not one-on-one?”

“Instead of singles, I want to do team matches. You and Keith will be on a team with three other members.”

Shiro tried to imagine that. Being on a team and playing Magitro. Like mention before, he was never really that interested in it – or at least interested in watching. However, he’s only ever seen single matches, only two witches battling in the ring. Team matches, on the other hand, he only ever hears about from people who chat about ‘what a great game it was’. He’s not sure what to expect in such a match. Yet, he find’s himself… intrigued by the idea.

“Uh, don’t you mean two?” Keith asked, “Magitro team matches have five members. There’s three of us, we only need two.”

“I won’t be part of the team – well I will be, just not as a team player. I’ll continue with doing single matches but you two and the three other members will basically form a subset group, with your own team name. I will act as your coach, though.”

Keith nodded, “So, like just like how Garrison teams work? They're still part of the Garrison Magitro team, but they have their own group name?”

“Yes, only we will actually be better than those teams. Because we’ll actually know who to play.”

“Okay. Who did you have in mind for the other three members,” Keith asked.

“I haven’t thought of any. I wanted to make sure you would be a part of before I considered adding other members.”

“How come?” Shiro questioned.

“Well, if you both accept my offer, then you’ll be the ones to decide who joins your subset group. I don’t want to force either of you into a group with people you don’t like. If you don’t accept, then I can just find my own members. So it’s no big deal if you aren’t interested,” Allura explained. “We also don’t have to worry about officials since Coran is our supervisor. I control what goes on in the team without much issue thanks to him.”

Shiro and Keith nodded.

“So, what do you say?” She asked.

Keith replied first, “I’m still in, but what do we get by being part of the team?”

“Well, for every match won, the team wins a reward, similar to how single matches work. Most of the time its money, a varying amount depending on where the match is being held and who’s sponsoring it and what not. Sometimes there are scholarships too – they happen a lot for school Magitro teams.”

Keith nodded, “I could definitely use some extra cash.”

She grinned and nodded before turning to Shiro, “What about you?”

“Well,” Shiro took a breath, “I may not be much of a fan of the sport. But… it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try?”

Allura seemed to glow when she smiled and clapped her hands together. “Perfect! I’ll let Coran know and we can start looking for members tomorrow.”

Shiro felt a nudge from the side and looked to Keith, who had a knowing look. ‘ _Your crush is showing,’_ he whispered with a smirk. Shiro coughed and tried to cover the red that rushed to his cheeks.

The waiter returned with their food. She gave Allura and Keith’s theirs. The mice popped out of the bag as their meal was placed next to Allura and squeaked happily. The waiter then placed a massive bowl in front of Shiro and everyone stared at with wide eyes as the waiter left.

“So that’s why it’s called the Queen Bee Soup,” Keith mumbled. “It fucking huge.”

“Are… are you going to be able to eat all of that?” Allura asked.

“I’ll… I’ll just take some home with me, I guess.”

Allura tilted her head and smiled coyly, “you’re going to be eating that soup for the next week, Shiro.” Shiro flushed and kept his eyes focused on the large bowl in front of him.

Keith shook his head. “Fool.”


	4. First Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets two interesting characters.

Keith was home by nine o’clock. He dropped his bag onto the floor and trudged over to his room before flopping down on his bed, mindful of Red who sat in a loaf at the head of it. Like Shiro had said, she did come back home. He wondered what she had been doing, but was too exhausted to really bring himself to ask – not like he would get an answer.

It had been a long day after Allura’s game. They ended up going to the team matches later in the evening, to get an idea of just what they were getting into. Keith found himself surprised at out much more intense it really was. It was difficult to get the trophy when there was always someone there to stop you. Teams were more definitely more entertaining. If one player got knocked down, instead of struggling to get back up on their own a teammate could easily help them. As a result, it took a lot more work and thoughtful plans to get to victory. The games were longer and a lot happened in them, as opposed to Single matches. Keith had been drawn into the game almost instantly. Shiro seemed to have been attentive to the game as well, probably to understand the workings of it.

Point was, Keith was looking forward to becoming a Magitro player. He wasn’t sure about he felt about being a part of a team, but with Shiro there he figured it would be all right. Tomorrow they planned to look for other members. He figured they would end up going through the people Allura has been training and those who’ve been interested in the past.

He hoped they didn’t get stuck with any obnoxious people. But he could think about that tomorrow. It had been a long day, and regardless of the annoying urge to move, he just wanted to stay laying on the bed.

He turned his head to the side to breath, as lying face down on his bed was as suffocating as one would think. He looked at Red and blinked – _no way_.

Red wasn’t alone. Another cat – he doesn’t recognize – was curled up in a similar loaf against Red. It was a Siamese Cat with large blue eyes. It tilted its head and blinked at Keith. Did Red seriously bring her friend here? Keith found himself wondering if he was hallucinating. He doesn’t have two Familiars, does he? No – he corrects himself – he would know if that other cat was to be his Familiar. Besides, by the looks of it, the other cat already had an owner. A blue, sparkly collar was wrapped around its neck. Unlike how Red looked when she had first showed up, this cat was well groomed and appeared to be well taken care of. In fact, Keith was willing to bet that this cat was spoiled by their owner.

Keith looked back at Red. “Really,” he groaned. Red growled lowly at him as if to say _‘deal with it’._

The other cat chirruped before standing up and walking over to Keith. “Uh…” Keith wasn’t sure what to do as the cat sat in front of him and looked him in the eyes. It raised its paw and placed it on his face with a meow. He flinched as it did so, expecting claws to pierce his arm. It pulled its paw back and meowed again.

Keith frowned and pushed himself up into a sitting position. The collar had a tag and he reached for it. “ _Blue”_ was spelled out in calligraphic letters. He turned it over to see if there was any information on the back of the tag. _‘The Prettiest Dang Cat in Existence’_ was written – so nothing that could help him figure who this cat belonged to. He had to guess that this cat might be someone’s Familiar, not just a regular pet. So, if that were the case, then Blue would be able to find their person on their own.

Whoever Blue’s person was definitely taking good care of them. Her fur was soft and silky, well groomed. She appeared well fed like she had regular meals that could be considered delicacies. She looked like her person could be rich.

His gaze flickered to Red who was watching them closely. It was almost like she was warning him not to do anything to upset her friend.

“If you’re going to bringing your friends over, a little warning would be appreciated.”

Red meowed at him. _‘Yeah, yeah – now stop hogging all the attention’._ Blue turned to meow at Red and then moved back over to her. Reds tail curls into a question mark as the Siamese rubs against and her before laying back down next to her.

_Guess they’re really good friends,_ Keith thought. Looking back, he wondered if Blue had been at the stadium and she was the reason why Red suddenly sped off. Perhaps Red had seen her? From how they interacted, Keith could guess they knew each other for a while. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised if they were more than friends. Which led him to wonder if Blue’s owner knew Red. He almost wanted to find out, but he decided against. It wasn’t worth his time. Not when he had others things to do.

“Can you two take it somewhere else so I can have my bed back?” Keith asked.

Red shot him a look as Blue comfortably purred away. Keith groaned.

* * *

 The cat was gone in the morning. Red was sprawled out in the light that shined through the window. Her eyes were half closed and finally relaxed. Keith pondered on when Blue must have left as he ate breakfast which consisted of a single piece of toast. He had to guess it was shortly before he had awoken, simply because of how content Red seemed.

For today Keith had plans to finally look into that one of the books he had gotten from Rolo’s. He had agreed to meet up with Allura and Shiro later today, so he wanted to get some practice in before he left.

He grabbed the newer looking on this time since he had yet to even take a peek at it. He relaxed against the wall and flipped it open. He skimmed through the contents before landing on the title ‘ _Expressing Flame Through Corporeal Methods’_. How convenient. He flipped to the section and began to read.

He goes over a variety of techniques to encourage connections to the flame which are listed and mentally checks off the one he’s already tried. Physical exercise? _Check._ Heating up a room, lighting candles for purification. _Check_. Eating a hot pepper? _No thanks._ Getting sexual? _Uuuh…. Would rather not._ Spend some time in the desert? _Done that_.

…Nothing was looking to be helpful. Of course, he shouldn’t be surprised. He is more of a hands on learner than someone who learns by reading. He managed to get this far in being a skillful spell caster on his own. He didn’t even require assistance from the instructors, he just did it as he went. Everything in this book seemed to recite what was taught by the teachers, only in far more boring method. Keith sighed and dropped the book down next to him. The other book sat on the bedside table and once again looked more promising. He lifted it from its spot and opened it. The pages were a little worn at the edges and seem, and even some page had the corners bent in.

Just as he was about the get into it, Red – again – got in his way. She hopped up in his lap and meowed at him. He set the book down to move her to the side, but she persisted, pawing at him. She meowed again and pawed at his leg.

“What do you want?” He groaned.

Red hopped off the bed and trotted over to the door. She pawed at it and meowed, looking back at him. Keith tilted his head curiously. Red was capable of leaving the apartment without any ways in from his experience, so why did she want him to open the door for her?

She meowed again and Keith got up from his spot and made his way to the door. He opened it, “There is that what you wanted?” He inquired.

She stepped outside turned around and meowed at him again. “What?” She moved toward him and pawed at his legs before spinning in a circle and meowing again. “You… you want me to follow you?”

She looked up at him and meowed again. ‘ _Yes’._

Keith frowned but figured that it had to be important. After all, this was his Familiar who was trying to get him to follow her. He grabbed his bag and threw on his worn sneakers, opting to go without a coat. The sun was bright and the heat was immense when he followed Red out of the apartment complex. He almost wanted to go right back home, but Red meowed at him. She continued forward and so he did as well, choosing to leave his bike behind – somehow he felt he would regret that.

Red trotted down the street at a fast pace, and he found himself surprised as to how she wasn’t overheating. Seriously, did someone accidentally put a curse on the entire island and doom everyone to an eternal heatwave? Keith wouldn’t doubt it. Things like that have always tended to happen now and again on this island.

Red lead him across the city, into a part he wasn’t overly familiar with. After a few turns here and there, Red ran into an alleyway and Keith found himself wondering if he had made the right decisions to follow his Familiar. Of course, Red was insistent as she stopped at the end of the alley, looking back at him expectantly. There was something in the look she gave them made him feel as though whatever was going on was clearly important. It would be offensive to not listen to his Familiar too, right? He wasn’t too sure. This was all still very new to him. What exactly was Red doing here, anyway? He mentally chided himself for not looking into Familiars enough.

Of course, how was he supposed to know that would get a Familiar. Getting a Familiar, was the last thing he ever expected to happen. He wasn’t prepared for it in the slightest. You’d think that being a witch, you’d know what was mostly going to happen. But that’s is hardly the scenario, unless you’re a witch that specializes in fortune and whatnot. It’s always experimenting and finding out as you go, learning from the past and the things around you whether it be books, people, or the elements.

It was at times like this, Keith found himself wishing his aspect was A Third Eye or something like that. Then he’d know just what was happening. But he was at a loss.

The second he reached Red at end of the alley she sprinted off to the right and leaped onto a brick wall. Keith followed her from the ground until he found himself nearly running into a wall himself. The top the brick wall, in which Red walked on, lead to the small space between the two large buildings. Red looked down at him from the wall, almost impatiently.

He rolled his eyes and latched onto the ledge of the wall, and pulled himself up with ease. He may not hit the gym often, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get a workout every now and then. He spared with Shiro from time to time, but it’s mostly with an enchanted dummy. So, he has the muscles to effortlessly pull himself onto the brick wall. Red meowed approvingly and carried on through the two buildings. Keith eyed the space before he sucked in a deep breath and angle himself to fit through. He shuffled after Red and cursed when his bag got caught on a metal rod that stuck out from on of the walls. After a rough tug, there was the sound fabric tearing and he cursed even louder this time. Some buildings sure were poorly made and just liked to ruin bags.

He got through the two buildings and examined the tear in his bag. It would need to be patched up, but luckily he hadn’t lost anything his bag. There were already several patches on it from many good and bad memories. He had no intention of getting a new one anytime soon either.

He took his attention away from his ‘treasured’ bag to look for Red and found she was nowhere in sight. In fact, the only thing in front of him was a long, wired fence. The one that separated most of the city from the Silent Forest. Even on this side of the fence, the forest was eerie. But, when wasn’t it eerie… People went missing in there, people died in there... People lost themselves in there… and sometimes, worse things happened there.

If it wasn’t obvious before, it should be now. Keith _hated_ that forest. This wasn’t some case of ‘I hate nature’ or anything of the sort. It was simply because nothing good ever came from that forest. Nothing. He remembered those several long months of anxiety, desperately hoping that what he had been told was not true. He remembered almost getting himself kicked out of the Garrison during those months as he tried to find some answers. He remembered it all.

But Shiro didn’t remember it.

And that was probably for the best.

Now was not the time to think about that, though. He didn’t want to think about it. Keith leaned against the fence and looked around for Red. She seemed to just disappear. She didn’t go into the forest, did she? God, he hoped not. There was no way he was going in there… At least, not at the moment.

His shoulders slumped as he glanced up at the blue sky. There wasn’t a single cloud and the sun was beating down on the earth with vigor. He could feel the sweat dripping down his back like he had just done a bunch of cardio workouts. Cardio workouts didn’t sound too bad to him actually. It might just help him with getting in touch with his element more.

Something moved in the corner of his eye.

He was expecting to see Red as he turned his head in the direction of the movement but blinked when he saw that it wasn’t his Familiar. Instead, a good distance down the line of the fence was a boy.

_A cute boy,_ he added.

They looked to be about his age and about the same height as him. His short hair was a dark brown that had a little curl to it. The boy’s skin was a charming brown that seemed to _glow_ in the sunlight. Seriously, Keith found himself having to rub his eyes to make sure it was not just his imagination. The other boy wore sunflower patterned shorts with a yellow T-shirt that looked about three times his size and had a bag hanging off his shoulder. He wasn’t wearing any shoes. From the looks of it, he was prepared for this heat, unlike Keith who wore a black t-shirt, with black skinny jeans, and boots and was paying the price for it.

Keith stared at the other in awe. He immediately tried to figure if out if he had seen this boy before. Something about them was familiar, but he just couldn’t place it. Did he attend the Garrison? That was likely, but if Keith had seen him, he doubted that he would forget a face like that.

The boy didn’t notice Keith’s as he walked. Keith felt an urge to call out to the gorgeous boy, but his voice was caught in his throat. Especially when this seemingly angelic stranger walked through a hole in the fence and down an old path _into the forest_.

_What was that kid thinking_? Did they not know what forest they were walking into?

He stood there stunned for a moment before he snapped out of his stupor and bolted for the hole in the fence. He stopped at the decent sized hole and looked at the path that the boy took. This path many people would take when going through walks, but now it’s been abandoned. Except by this single person who must have some sort of death wish.

Keith took a breath and moved past the fence. He was instantly hit with a feeling of dread, but he continued forward.

“Hey!” He called out for the boy. He ran down the path to catch up but halted when he noticed something odd. That being that the boy was gone. Just gone.

Keith looked around but there was no trace of the stranger around. There were no footprints or the sound of footsteps. There was no movement. Everything was still, silent, and grim. He looked forward, down the path where he assumed the boy must have gone. There was no one there and the path seemed to go on, way too deep into the forest for comfort.

_Snap!_ Keith jumped at the sound of what must have been a branch breaking under someone’s foot.

Something punched his gut. It was like every instinct in his body was writhing and screaming for him to leave. To get away from a danger he couldn’t see. Something was horribly wrong here. What was that thumping? It was loud, but wasn’t the forest silent? Wait, that… that was his heart racing. Everything in his body was tense. His muscle ached to _get away. Run. Move!_

When it came to himself, Keith knew one thing was always certain. His instincts never let him down. He spun on his heel and fled back down the way he came, back to the fence and back into the city. He hit away any foliage that got between him and his exit. Even once back at his original spot, before he followed the mysterious boy, the trembling terror lingered in his bones.

It had to have been some sort of trick. That boy. He had to have been some sort of illusion! The forest probably created him to lure Keith into its claws, he reasoned. Some people have reported that they would see things in the forest. Those who went chasing after the figures they saw in the forest never came back. It was common knowledge, wasn’t it? Never chase anything that’s in the forest. _But he wasn’t in the forest when I saw him_ , Keith thinks and promptly shoves that thought aside.

Stumbling to a stop, his chest heaved as he hunched over, hands resting on his thighs. His body shook out the adrenaline that was rushing through his veins. He kept his gaze on a patch of grass as he collected himself. As his breath evened and the sense of danger faded away, he spared on glance back at the forest behind him.

“Fuck…” He cursed to himself and looked away. He wasn’t even in there for five minutes and he could barely handle it. He should have been stronger than that.

And that boy. Just… what the fuck was that? Who was he? What was he? There was something off about him, Keith was sure. He settled for an illusion, a hallucination, or something that was just a trick of the mind. It was just the heat getting to him.

“ _Mrrow_.”

Keith looked up and suddenly Red was in front of him. He frowned, “where were you?”

Red blinked. Keith sighed and moved to sit on the ground. To shake off the rest of the unease that sat in his stomach. Red instantly moved forward to curl up on his lap. She rubbed against him and meowed again.

“You’ve got to stop disappearing and reappearing out of nowhere like that,” he mumbled quietly to her. She began to purr as he ran his hand over her fur and scratched behind her ears, pulling her close. It was almost like she was apologizing or trying to comfort him. Maybe both. It definitely was comforting, that’s sure for.

He sat there for a good ten minutes with Red purring in his lap, before he finally decided it was time to get moving. He had to meet Allura and Shiro at the Magitro Training Center.

He nudged Red and she took the hint to move off of him. Red trotted back to the brick wall that she walked on the get there before while Keith pushed himself off the ground. As he did, he dared to take one last look at the world that lay past the fence. A shiver crept up his spine and he stepped back from it even further.

Red chirped at him when he reached the brick wall. “Let’s not go here again, 'kay?” He said to her. She tilted her head and her eyes went sharp. Like she knew that wasn’t the case. As much as he hated that forest, there was still an urge, a pull that lured him to it. If he was smart, he’d stay away from it. But, alas, he was stubborn. Keith knew it was only a matter of time before he’d come back here. And this time, he’d had more reason to. Those reasons being the boy that disappeared within the forest and Red, who seemed to want him to follow this pull. He wanted answers and he would eventually have to get them.

“Not today,” Keith relented. Not so soon after what just happened. Keith pulled himself back on the brick wall and made his way back through the space between the two buildings with Red moving in front of him.

Nothing good ever came from that forest. Yet, he knew he would come back to it.


End file.
